My group of 4 was standing at area 19 just at the waters edge. It was dark, and it was water, anything could be inside of it. They litterally stood there discussing whether they should go inside or not. The Rogue (my wife) sticks a boot into the water - within seconds the water elemental attacks them. A few rounds later its dead. Once again they start discussing if they should enter. Well long story short, the Rogue (apparently the only brave one) decides to head in first. She is followed by the Half-Orc Barbarian, then the Paladin, then the Mage (who really didn't want to get in the water).
They explore a bit, and find a small room. Here is how I described it... "as you swim into the room you see a few benches and some storage compartments. A dead man floats near the back his head bent over slightly. " I tilted my head down with my eyes closed (taking on the role of the ghoul) and then looked up and said " Suddenly his eyes open, revealing black coal like eyes, his mouth opens revealing several sharp teeth. He quickly moves to attack you"
The Mage player wasn't even the room but the description freaked him out a bit (he tends to visualize things) My wife says "the water just got a bit warmer around the rogue" Needless to say everyone tried to flee except the paladin and the barbarian. In the end the Paladin was victorious over it and the Barbarian was paralyzed.
Something about dark underwater dungeons just seems so much scarier then a normal dark dungeon.
My players stood at the edge of the water, sticking a staff with a light spell in it. Up came the elemental, Whack! went the paladin, encounter over. Virtually the same thing happened with the ghoul, although they had to coax it a little.
Great story! I think this is largely how the scene was intended to play out... dark, creepy, disorienting, suffocating ... all the makings of a fine horror movie or psychological thriller.
"You can't scream underwater but you can't keep yourself from trying..."